Various sensors are known in the magnetic-effect sensing arts. Examples of common magnetic-effect sensors may include, for example, Hall Effect and magnetoresistive technologies. Generally, these magnetic-effect sensors can respond to the change of magnetic field as influenced by the presence or absence of a ferromagnetic target object of a designed shape that passes through or by the sensory field of the magnetic-effect sensor.
When acting as a transducer, the magnetic-effect sensor generally outputs an electrical signal representative of the sensed magnetic field. The electrical signal can vary in amplitude and width so as to correspond to the shape, e.g., a profile, of the target object. The signal can be modified by various electronic circuitries for processing and conditioning so as to yield sensing and control information. The various electronics may be positioned either onboard or outboard of the magnetic-effect sensor's packaging.
One of the problems with detecting targets, particularly rotational targets (e.g., a rotating shaft), and using magnetic sensing devices is that such targets typically possess a large amount of rotational vibration or jitter along with wobble or run-out. Such features can distort the output signals generated by the magnetic sensor utilized, thereby producing erroneous output pulses or resulting in missing an excessive number of output pulses. A need thus exists for a magnetic sensing apparatus, which is not plagued with such problems.